About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college, I was working
as an intern at my University's Museum of Natural History. One day while
working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple
come in with a little girl in a wheelchair.
As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was kind of perched on her
chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and
torso. She was wearing a little white dress with red polka dots.
As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the register. I
turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink. As I took the money
from
her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving me the cutest,
largest smile I have ever seen. All of a sudden her handicap was gone and
all
I saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted me and almost
instantly
gave me a completely new sense of what life is all about. She took me from
a
poor, unhappy college student and brought me into her world; a world of
smiles,
love and warmth.
That was ten years ago. I'm a successful business person now and whenever I
get down and think about the troubles of the world, I think about that
little
girl and the remarkable lesson about life that she taught me.
